## **Great Chart and Singleton Pre-School**
## **Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Friday 3rd October 2025 9.15am**
|**Name of attendee**|**Name of child at Pre-school**|
|---|---|
|||
|Michelle Beerensson|Staff|
|Sanunar Guy|Existing Committee|
|Jess Heasman|Zac Heasman|
|Lisa Goss|Melody Cornwell|
|Kezia Martin (Chair)|Existing Committee|
|Tracy Gorham-Brown|Staff|
|Joanne Ruaux|Olivia Ruaux|
|Laura Cooke|Hattie Cooke|
|Sam Breeds|Lizzie Barham-Breeds|
|Dan East|Autumn East|
|Kamila Matysiak|Borys Szulc|
|Pamela Yarlett|Madison Fasoli|
|Rebecca Birch|Samuel Birch|
|Ellie Nason|Freddie Martin|
|Vladimir Semashkin|Maya and Sofiia Semashkina|
|Jill Collins|Existing Committee|
|Charlotte Barham|Elizabeth Barham-Breeds|
|Lucie Pace|Existing Committee|
|Mrs Talupula|Kritin Talupula|
|||
## **Apologies: Simrat Rait, Katarina Hurry, Allison Ovenden, Kim Dear, Gemma Ritchie**
**Welcome and Chair Report:** The Co-Chair, Kezia Newman, welcomed everyone, reminded everyone of the need for confidentiality, introduced existing members of the committee and briefly described the role of the committee:
Thank you for joining us for this years AGM, as you may be aware, its imperative that we have enough parents attend this meeting in order to allow us to continue, so Thank you for taking the time out to be here this morning!
This year has flown by. We have had a fantastic fundraising year and are lucky enough to have also had some of our events fund matched by Barclays, meaning the amount raised was dramatically increased. So a big thank you to Natalie who is our Barclays contact, everyone that joined in with our fund raisers and also a huge thank you to our staff and committee as none of it would be possible without them.
It has been a fun year for the committee. We have had two amazing fun days, one held here and one held at the Singleton Barn in the summer holidays. Both were great days that were thoroughly enjoyed by our attending families and the wider community.
We have amended policies and worked on updating our branding and signage. Some of our new signage Is still to arrive and be fitted, and we are also due to update our website shortly. So it should all have a fresh new look before too long.
After 5 years, this will be my last committee or AGM meeting. My youngest started at Great chart this September, so it’s time to step down as Chair and leave the committee in someone else’s capable hands. It has been brilliant fun and I have made some wonderful friends just from being a committee member. You get a say in shaping the begining of your children’s educational life while being part of the Preschool community. I would definitely recommend joining the team.
## **Staff Report - Read by Michelle Beerensson:**
This past year has certainly been challenging; we had a number of children with SEN and unfortunately the local authority has in the process of changing their level support for children with SEN which meant that the children concerned had very little if any outside support. Jane our SENCO and Deputy worked extremely hard to support both the children their families and staff to enable these children to have a positive experience at our setting. We hope that the new system in place will be more useful and supportive to children, families and settings. Early this year a member of staff left, and we will be replacing them after half term. The new member of staff will be starting a level 3 qualification in the new year. In our experience we find staff that come to us with an interest for early years and share our passion for high quality care and education work much better in our setting. Our setting continues to be a member of a large collaboration in Ashford which enables us to access some money for resources. We also have continued to support staff in their professional development encouraging them to access courses that will increase their knowledge of early years. We are very grateful to our amazing committee who have worked tirelessly to this year to hold fundraising event which raise much needed funds for our setting. Thank you to our parents who continue to support us. I pleased to say that this academic has started very well the children have settled in and all seem very happy.
## **Treasurer’s report – read by Tracy Gorham-Brown (paid administrator):**
This report shows any increases or decreases in certain areas from last year to help us assess where we can tweak things in the future to remain sustainable.
Fees and funding: The amount of fees received has dramatically reduced from last year due to the expansion in Early Years funding for working parents which now includes children from 9 months old. This means that Early Education funding is the Preschool’s main source of income, with the hourly rates determined by the Department of Education and KCC. Hence in the last term of the academic year we had to introduce a voluntary consumable fee for funded hours to try to cover the shortfall as the hourly funding rates do not cover the cost of providing an hour’s education for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Fund Raising and donations:
Fundraising efforts raised a fantastic £6.2K, our best year without receiving any grants. Boosted enormously by a fabulous Christmas Raffle and Summer Funday which was fundmatched by Barclays Bank. Thank you to the committee for all their hard work this year! We raised a further £666 in uniform sales and received £900 from the Early Years Collaboration.
Wages: The wages figure is higher than the previous year due the increase of National Living Wage and associated pay rises and the increased employer NI.
Rent: The rent rate has not increased this year and remains roughly the same as last year.
General running costs show an increase from last year, which is not unexpected with the current inflationary pressures, and we have a new photocopier lease which is more expensive. We are hoping this increased cost will be offset by the cancellation of the expensive landline phone contract.
Gifts: The staff were given gifts at Christmas and the end of the school year. Leaving gifts were bought for the children leaving us to start primary school and at Christmas. Michelle was given a company gift for 25 years of service and we also had work experience students who received a voucher or gift.
Professional Memberships: This includes 2 years of annual insurance premium and membership fee with the Early Years Alliance as they were late processing the direct debit the previous year. It also includes the Ofsted annual fee, Music Licence, Bank charges, Sage accounts package, Accountant verification fees and Information Commission membership. We continue to use a payroll company for processing wages and pensions. We also paid for several DBS checks for new members of the committee.
Conclusion: The figures show we made a £5,614.37 surplus this year. We were expecting to see a loss earlier in the year, but the exceptional fundraising means the figures are much better than we expected. Although a £5K surplus does sound positive the annual financial reserve check, where we ensure we have ringfenced funds to ensure statutory redundancy costs, showed we need to increase the protected reserve by £10,000 due to increases in wages and the inclusion of staff who had previously not been included due to a shorter length of service. This means that we actually have £5,000 less available to use than we did the previous year so is something we need to be mindful of particularly as we will need to replace the garden playhouse relatively soon. However, we have sufficient funds above our dedicated reserve that we remain a going concern.
**Question Time** : No questions were asked.
## **New Committee**
**Role of the Committee:** The preschool requires a committee to act as the Charity Trustees and is generally made up of parents of attending children. The committee is responsible for the overall management and smooth running of the setting. This includes recruiting, training & development of staff, as well as improving the preschool resources through fundraising activities.
As required, the current committee will now stand down and a new committee will be elected, by nomination & seconding. The committee is needed to ensure the continuation of the preschool, requiring a Chairperson, Treasurer & Secretary, as well as other committee members - so please do consider taking on one of these roles. The existing committee stood down.
## The following new Committee members were voted in subject to EY2 / DBS checks:
|**Name of Committee Member**|**Nominated by:**|**Seconded by:**|
|---|---|---|
|Simrat Rait (existing)|Michelle Beerensson|Kezia Martin|
|Michelle Beerensson (existing)|Kezia Martin|Jill Collins|
|Sananur Guy (existing)|Kezia Martin|Michelle Beerensson|
|Allison Ovenden (existing)|Michelle Beerensson|Kezia Martin|
|Kamila Matysiak|Michelle Beerensson|Kezia Martin|
|Pamela Yarlett|Michelle Beerensson|Kezia Martin|
|Rebecca Birch|Kezia Martin|Jill Collins|
|Ellie Nason|Jill Collins|Kezia Martin|
|Charlotte Barham|Kezia Martin|Michelle Beerensson|
|Laura Cooke|Kezia Martin|Michelle Beerensson|
|Jess Heasman|Kezia Martin|Michelle Beerensson|
|Lisa Goss|Kezia Martin|Michelle Beerensson|
|Joanne Ruaux|Michelle Beerensson|Kezia Martin|
|**Officer Role**|**Name of Committee**
**Member**|**Nominated by:**|**Seconded by:**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Chair|Allison Ovenden|Michelle Beerensson|Sananur Guy|
|Secretary|Joanne Ruaux|Michelle Beerensson|Sananur Guy|
|Treasurer|Sananur Guy|Michelle Beerensson|Lisa Goss|
The Secretary and Treasurer roles will be supported by the paid administrator TGB. Committee member information sheets and data consent forms were handed out for immediate completion. TGB to change Charity Commission information. MB to email Ofsted with EY3a information. Whatsapp group to be set up with new committee to assist new committee members through the EY2 and DBS check procedures and hopefully new members will be able to complete online at home. The existing committee agreed to help new members through the process and the preschool will pay for coffee if the committee need to meet up to do so.
TGB handed out an instruction letter on the EY2/DBS procedure plus hard copies of the Identity Checking Form which MB will need to check and submit to Ofsted.
New members to submit receipt of DBS cost and own bank details to TGB via the preschool email (approximately £8) which will be reimbursed by BACS immediately. DBS and EY2 should be completed as soon as possible and certainly within 2 weeks of this meeting.
**Addendum to meeting post 3[rd] October** : Laura Cooke and Charlotte Barham stood down as do not have suitable ID to fulfil EY2 requirements. Jessica Heasman and Pamela Yarlett stood down due to time constraints.
Approved by the committee of Great Chart and Singleton Preschool on 14[th] October 2025
GREAT CHART AND SINGLETON PLAYGROUP
FINATr4CIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025
Charity Number: 295122
GREAT CHART AND SINGLETON PLAYGROUP
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025
TRUSTEES
Michelle Beeren5son
Katerina Hutry
Dr SiTnrat Rait
Jill Collins
Allison Ovende
Gernma Ritchie
Lucie Pace
Kezia Newman
Kimberley Dear
Sananur Meric Guy
ACCOUNTANT Catt AccountAnCy Limited
Church Bam, Wesiwell Court
Wcstwcll
Ashford
Kent
TN25 4JX
Page I
GREAT CHART AND SINCLETON PLAYGROUP
INCOMF. AJ'D F.XPF.NDITURF. ACCOUNT
FOR THF. YF.AR F.NDF.D 31 JUI.Y 2025
2024
2024
INCOME
Fees
KCC Funding
Fund Raising
Donations
Interest
Unifonn 5ale5
Deposits for Septeinber
Other illLome
8,412.IMI
146,289.48
6.251.98
900.00
2,158.70
666.00
1021.IMI
26,2Jg.4Q
J2J,gJ8.85
9,545.37
750.QQ
2, J5J.29
5J4.QO
650.00
Nct Income
166,499.16
161, 748.91
EXPENDITURE
Wages
Tax and Nl
Pension
General running costs
Rent
Craft and equipment
Caf¢
Tclcphonc and intcrnet
Training
Cjifis
Flind raising
Profe&%ional rnember%hip% and in.suranc¢
Uniform
Waste collection
Photocopier
123.441.43
6,899.72
8,029.73
1,731.fv1
9,626.25
2,0¥4.57
1,108.56
470.99
135.00
431.66
631.14
3J09.75
400.94
1,160.40
824.01
JJ¥,228. 72
7.812. 73
2.413.23
9.443 50
5.¥57.03
1.142n
73J.05
408.06
497.35
756.87
787.80
236.96
160,885.79
151.646.84
Surplusl{Defecit) for the year
S,613.37
IQ. 1fj2.n7
General Fund
Opening balance
Surplusl{Defeeit) for the year
125,170.14
5,613.37
Jli.06¥.07
10,102.07
130,783.51
J25,17n.14
Re
resented b
Reseive aLcount
Current kLLLuunt
Cash in hand
127,886.20
1,852.81
1,044.50
J20, 727.50
3,418. 75
1,023.69
130,783.51
J25,170.J4
Pagc 2
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Great Chart and Singleton Playgroup **On accounts for the year** 31 July 2025 **Charity no** 295122 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1-2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **31 / 07 / 2025** .
**Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
**Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
* _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._
|**Signed:**
**Name:**
**Relevant professional**
**qualification(s) or body**
**(if any):**
**Address:**|**Date:**|26/09/2025|
|---|---|---|
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||Catt Accountancy Limited||
||||
||Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA)||
||||
||Church Barn, Westwell Court||
||Ashford, Kent||
||TN25 4JX||
1
**October 2018**
**IER**
**Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
2
**October 2018**
**IER**